CEO Spotlight

No Frills, and No Excuses

Michael O'Leary, the outspoken CEO of Ireland's Ryanair, is fanatical about making air travel affordable for the masses. He's pretty keen on rewarding shareholders, too. The pitch for owning Aer Lingus.

Brash, cocky, outrageous? Michael O'Leary, chief executive of Ireland's Ryanair, has been called all that and more. And no wonder. He dressed as the Pope when his airline opened a new route to Rome. He wants to charge passengers who stand in line to use the bathroom on his fleet of Boeing 737-800s. And—get this—he has offered to donate the levy to charity "for incontinence, or something like that."